Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem Academic Symposium 2025

“Zionism and Indigeneity versus Settler Colonialism and Historical Revisionism”
4 November 2025, Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem

Our Academic Symposium 2025 built on the success of our 2024 Symposium, which featured, among others, Natan Sharansky, Prof Ilan Troen, Prof Gil Troy, Izabella Tabarovsky, Dr Charles Asher Small, Prof Wayne Horowitz and Dr Sheree Trotter (view videos).

Certain ideologies emanating from academia regarding Israel and the Jewish people have created false narratives that contribute greatly to the rise in antisemitism on Western campuses and in society generally. These must be understood, critiqued and deconstructed. They include, but are not limited to, settler colonial ideology, decolonisation, post-colonial narratives, critical theory and anti-Zionism. The IEJ Academic Symposium 2025 provided a platform for expert exploration of these ideas. It addressed historical revisionism and false narratives, and strengthened Jewish identity. The various presentations were filmed and will be released shortly.
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View Schedule

Supported by:
Institute for Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy • Israel Institute of New Zealand • NZ Friends of Israel Association Inc • Zionist Federation of NZ • Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation

Symposium 2025 goals include:

To address false narratives and challenges faced by students in the academy
To reaffirm Jewish identity
To strengthen Indigenous solidarity with Israel

View Symposium 2024 Videos on YouTube

Special Guest: Nova Peris OAM OLY
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Special Guest: Nova Peris OAM OLY

Nova Peris is an Olympic gold medallist, dual Olympian and international sports representative former Federal Senator for the Northern Territory. She is a mother, grandmother and proud Aboriginal woman of Yawuru, Lunga Kitja, and Bunitj Gagadju descent. A trailblazer in sport, politics, and social justice, she has dedicated her life to building bridges of understanding and advancing equality for Indigenous Australians within her own foundation, https://novaperisfoundation.org.au/

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Dr Michael Wechsler
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Dr Michael Wechsler

The Fabrication of a History: Palestinian Historical Revisionism and the Undermining of the Jewish Connection to the Land of Israel
Michael G. Wechsler earned his Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from the University of Chicago. He is a research associate with the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw. He specializes in biblical languages and Hebrew Scriptures and his research and publication focuses on Judaeo-Arabic literature, with particular emphasis on pre-modern exegetical and theological literature, as well as the literary and ideological contacts between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

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Dr Charles Asher Small
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Dr Charles Asher Small

Jewish Perceptions of Exile in the Wake of Postmodern Colonialism and Antisemitism
Dr. Charles Asher Small is the Founding Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP). He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Moshe Dayan Centre for Middle East and African Studies at Tel Aviv University and the Goldman Fellow at the School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs at Tel Aviv University. He will also be a Visiting Academic and Senior Member of St. Antony’s College, Oxford University.

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Dr Sheree Trotter
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Dr Sheree Trotter

Settler Colonialism: Politicized, Ahistorical, Dangerous
Sheree Trotter is New Zealand Maori (Te Arawa). She earned a PhD in history from the University of Auckland (Thesis: Zionism in New Zealand to 1948). She is a Fellow of London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism andcompleted an ISGAP scholars-in-residence course at University of Oxford in 2023. In 2012 she co-founded the Holocaust and Antisemitism Foundation for whom she has interviewed seventy Holocaust survivors. She is co-director of Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem.

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Emeritus Prof Wayne Horowitz
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Emeritus Prof Wayne Horowitz

Indigenous Ancient Israel: An Outsider’s View
A short millennium long journey through documentation of the history of Ancient Israel through the eyes of Israel's enemies.

Wayne Horowitz, Hebrew University, is an archeologist and academic specializing in ancient Near East and Assyriology. For the past decade Professor Horowitz has worked on a joint research program with the Gwich'in Tribal Council, Department of Culture and Heritage in the Northwest Territories, Canada, to protect and recover Gwich’in knowledge of stellar and other heavenly phenomena.

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Loretta Glanville
Perry Trotter Perry Trotter

Loretta Glanville

Songs of the Seas

Loretta Glanville is a Mulgal, Dauareb, Kaurareg woman with a strong commitment to youth education, women's mental health, and land and sea conservation, she has made significant contributions to her community.

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Adam Louis-Klein
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Adam Louis-Klein

Peoplehood as Analogy : Indigeneity, Antizionism, and Civilizational Continuity from the Amazon to Israel 

Adam Louis-Klein is a writer, anthropologist, and musician, currently completing a PhD in Anthropology at McGill University. His work explores Jewish peoplehood, Zionism, and contemporary antisemitism, drawing connections between civilizational identity, recursive ethnography, and the politics of indigeneity.

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Prof Gillian Gould
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Prof Gillian Gould

Stronger Together: Stories of Indigenous Collaboration

Professor Gillian Gould is a Public Health Researcher, Tobacco Treatment Specialist, and General Practitioner dedicated to improving the health of First Nations communities in Australia.

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Assoc Prof Shawn Zelig Aster
Perry Trotter Perry Trotter

Assoc Prof Shawn Zelig Aster

How Judahites in Babylonia Preserved their sense of Indigeneity and connection to the Land of Israel

Shawn Zelig Aster is a scholar of the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East, specializing in the historical context of the Biblical prophets and their connection to Assyria and Babylonia. He is Associate Professor in the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University, where he teaches the history and geography of Biblical Israel.

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Shelly Bengiat
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Shelly Bengiat

Shelly Bengiat represents Australia’s Indigenous and Pacific alliances. She will share insights on coastal restoration, regenerative education, and the power of blending ancestral wisdom with cutting-edge technologies. Shelly’s mission — from the First Sea to the Last Sea — is to co-create a future where Indigenous voices shape the blue economy and inspire global stewardship for generations to come.

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Guest Artist: Avraham Vofsi
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Guest Artist: Avraham Vofsi

Avraham Vofsi (b. 1989, Australia) is a Jewish artist based in Israel, working in classical oil painting. Born in Melbourne to American parents, he grew up as a Jew in a non-Jewish city. Inspired by the connection Indigenous Australians had to land and history, he began painting stories of marginalised communities before turning inward: toward his own identity and the Jewish story.

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Images from the recent Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem Academic Symposium 2025 (videos and papers will be published shortly)